Game controllers have been developed that allow a player to make inputs to a video game or simulation by gesturing and/or by moving the player's body. The Microsoft® “Kinect”® motion-sensing videogame technology employs camera image analysis methods. In this technology, cameras sense the player's image.
Physiologically modulated videogames add to the entertainment value of videogames by adding the challenge of requiring a player to master physiological self-regulation skill as well as hand-eye coordination. Thus, controlling the physiological state, or learning to self-induce physiologic changes, is an additional skill requirement or challenge added to games.
In addition to enhancing entertainment value by making games more exciting, physiologically modulated videogames also have advantages for encouraging health-enhancing physiological self-regulation skills or for therapeutic amplification of healthful physiological characteristics. Biofeedback, an effective treatment for various physiological problems, can be used to optimize physiological functioning in many ways. The benefits of biofeedback can, however, only be attained through a number of training sessions, and such gains can only be maintained over time through regular practice. Adherence to regular training, especially at home, has been a problem that has plagued the field of biofeedback and limited its utility to date. The inventions disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,100, Method of Encouraging Attention by Correlating Video Game Difficulty with Attention Level, Pope et al., Dec. 27, 1994; U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,820, Method and Apparatus for Physiological Self-Regulation Through Modulation of an Operator's Control Input to a Video Game or Training Simulator, Palsson et al., Sep. 17, 2002; and U.S. Pat. No. 8,062,129, Physiological User Interface for a Multi-User Virtual Environment, Pope et al, Nov. 22, 2011, have solved this to a degree, by blending biofeedback into video games, which increases motivation. The entire contents of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,377,100, 6,450,820, and 8,062,129 are hereby incorporated by reference.
Biofeedback-modulated video games or simulations of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,377,100, 6,450,820 and 8,062,129, are games that respond to physiological signals as well as mouse, joystick or game controller input; they embody the concept of improving physiological functioning by rewarding specific healthy body signals with success at playing a video game. The biofeedback-modulated game method of these patents blends biofeedback into commercially available off-the-shelf video games in such a way that the games do not lose their entertainment value. This method uses physiological signals (e.g. electroencephalogram frequency band ratio) not simply to drive a biofeedback display directly, or periodically modify a task as in other systems, but to continuously modulate parameters (e.g., game character speed and mobility) of a game task in real time while the game task is being performed by other means (e.g., a game controller).